Without Him
by Tor Raptor
Summary: What would happen if Leo hadn't thought to use his bionics to save Mr. Davenport? What happens when the rats have to learn to live... without him? Alternate ending to Bionic House Party.


**Okay, so, this idea came to me while watching Bionic House Party. Honestly, I'm surprised nobody else has written a story on this premise yet, or maybe I just haven't seen them. This story's rated T for depressing thoughts, and some that may be considered borderline suicidal. Just a warning, for those of you sensitive to that kind of thing. Anyway, I present my first Lab Rats one-shot: Without Him!**

It shouldn't have been him. Out of all the risks that were taken during the fight with Krane and his soldiers, only one resulted in tragedy. We had all put our lives on the line, risking everything we had to save the world. For some reason beyond my comprehension, fate had decided to take just one of us, leaving the rest to grieve for him. It had all happened so fast, and we all ran the gamut of emotions in under ten minutes. First the fear at fusing our abilities and the possibility of death that hung over our heads, then the elation at finally defeating Krane, then to despair as we found that our father had suffered more damage than he could take.

We'd gotten him to a hospital, but we'd been to late. The doctors there had managed to keep him alive for about twenty hours, then it had all become too much for him. Poor Leo had witnessed it all. He'd been in the room when Mr. Davenport's heart started to fail, yet could do nothing about it but watch as his step-father died before his very eyes. After that, he became an emotional wreck. He'd shut himself in his room and refused to eat or speak to anybody for a week. Out of concern, Tasha would put her ear to his bedroom door and hear nothing but muffled sobs as Leo grieved for his father. It was bad enough for me having my father be dead, but having watched the life leave him? I can't even imagine the horror Leo endured.

Douglas left us after it happened. He finally knew how he made his brother feel when he faked his own death. But it was far worse this way around, since the two had been as close as brothers could be, and not feuding when one of them passed. We haven't heard a word from him since. Knowing Douglas, he's probably hiding out in some secret underground lair in Greenland or somewhere even more remote. Wherever former villains usually go to mourn their dead brothers.

The rest of us were really more shocked than sad when it first happened. I remember just feeling numb the first couple days, not truly depressed yet. The first wave of grief didn't hit us until a mission alert sounded in the lab. Without him, we weren't prepared enough. The simplest of missions turned out as a miserable failure, as the three of us can't work together without an external power ending our arguments. The realization hit us right then and there: we couldn't survive without him. At least not successfully.

As for all of the bionic soldiers that were left behind when Krane was killed, the government had taken them away to custody, fearing that they had some of the evil traits that Krane has possessed. We tried to resist them, but without Mr. Davenport's authority, we were simply waved off as being too young and impulsive to make the right decision. Who knows what has happened to them since then. They're probably sitting in locked cages, being denied of their basic human rights, just because they were under a corrupt and evil leader.

The house seems so empty without him. Around every turn, the Davenport Industries logo mocks me. Leo cringes every time the phone rings and one of his old employees calls asking to speak to him. I almost miss his constant praising of himself. Sure he'd been a bit egotistical and self-centered, but deep down, he was the most good-hearted person any of us had ever met. Sure we butted heads all the time, but he knew what was best for me. Looking back, I wish I hadn't been so rebellious and reckless. Sometimes I wish I could go back to that day, and stay by his side to protect him. Even if it meant that the three of us couldn't be in the right position to finally end Krane, at least we'd still have our father. If only I had kept a closer eye on him, made sure he would be safe. None of us had really wanted him and Douglas to help on the front lines, but they had insisted they do their part. I wish I could have resisted them more, told them to stay off the battlefield for their own safety. Douglas had been smart, he'd hidden himself at the first sign of danger. Not very courageous, but at least he was safe, wherever he was now.

It shouldn't have been him. The three of us fused our bionics, something Douglas told us could have resulted in death. Sometimes, I wish it had, then I wouldn't have to live with this pain. Mr. Davenport wouldn't want me to think that way, but he's not here anymore to tell me what to do. At least if we had died, we could still be with him. But then, poor Leo and Tasha would have to deal with the loss of four loved ones, instead of one. I'm glad I could be here to comfort them, but it would be better if none of us had needed comforting in the first place. Sometimes I'm angry with the doctors at that hospital. They'd left him alone with Leo, knowing he was in critical condition. Even if it was just for a few minutes, those few minutes proved to be the difference between life and death.

Sometimes I'm angry with Leo. I mean, he was there when it happened, did he not call for help? Did he not think to do anything at all to save his father? Okay, it wasn't his fault. If I'd been in the same situation, I probably would have been frozen with horror too. And even if he'd called the doctors, would it have been too late? I'll never know. Fate decided to take him, so it must mean something. People don't just die for no reason, do they? There's always some greater meaning. Maybe someday when I'm older and wiser I'll learn that meaning, but for now grieving is enough to keep me busy. The rage I feel toward Krane is quickly quenched by pure despair and sadness. Other kids in the world lose their fathers, and they make it out okay, why is it so hard?

Maybe it's because most other kids' dads didn't rescue them from their real father, who was a maniac at the time. When I learned that Douglas was my real father, and that the man who'd raised me for as long as I could remember wasn't, I was shocked. How could he ever keep such a secret from us? But, as we moved forward with our lives, I began to forgive him for not telling us our true origins. He was only trying to protect us. That was all he ever did: tried to protect us. We weren't even his real kids, just his nephews and niece, yet he still treated us like his own. That's what made him such a great person. He was courageous, caring, and generally always put others before himself.

Fate chose the wrong person, the world will suffer without him. While I occasionally do get angry with myself, the doctors, or Leo, I'm most often expressing fury towards fate itself. Why did it have to take him? Why couldn't it have been another villain, one the world would be a better place without? Whenever I ask myself this, a little voice in the back of my head tells me that there needs to be a balance in the world. Krane died that day, evil was reduced, so the good side had to take a hit as well to ensure equilibrium. I'd rather have my father than all the balance in the world.

Without him, almost every mission after the first one didn't end successfully. Eventually, we gave up on trying to do them without him. Any piece of technology that malfunctioned couldn't be fixed, and the three of us couldn't stop bickering for our lives, so we decided it was no use. I don't try to argue with the other two, but anger and grief just push me to fight with them, even when I know we have a job to do. I'm sure the same goes for them. I realize that Mr. Davenport was the glue that held this family together, and now that he was gone, the bond was breaking.

Tasha struggled as a single parent, managing four teenagers. Leo got in trouble at school more, and almost everybody's grades suffered. I try to study, but whenever I'm alone my thoughts catch up with me and drag me down into that pit of despair and refuse to let go until I just stop and cry it all out. It's quite difficult to focus on schoolwork from behind wells of tears. Who knew the absence of one person could have such a disastrous ripple effect on all that were close to him?

Sometimes I wonder what would have happened if he were still here. What would be different? For all I know, if things had turned out differently, we could be living on a manmade island in the middle of the ocean training the bionic soldiers to be heroes. Anything would be preferable to now. I'd rather our secret have gotten out too early and be stuck in a government facility being tested than this. At least I'd know that Mr. Davenport was okay. Sometimes I try to tell myself that he is okay, he just has no way of telling us so. With his ego, not expressing himself to the world is probably agonizing.

I know he would want me to move on, to keep going despite all the obstacles, but I just can't bring myself to do it. I need his voice in my ear, telling me that everything is going to be alright. I need to see his face, eyes focused on the cyberdesk in front of him, working for the greater good. I need to hear him scolding Leo for sneaking a ride on one of his inventions again. I need to see Leo sneaking a ride on one of his inventions again, just being his old perky self. He never plays around with Mr. Davenport's stuff anymore, nobody does. I think he's afraid he's watching over him, keeping him in line. In fact, everything in the lab is in almost the exact same place it was before the attack from Krane. Nobody has had the heart to move any of it. We all want to preserve what's left of Mr. Davenport.

So now, as we stand over his grave on the one-year anniversary of his death, I finally come to terms with all that has happened. I can do no more than stand motionless and read over the marble stone that marks the place where his body is buried.

_Donald Davenport  
1972-2015  
__Father, leader, inventor, and hero_

I can no longer do anything to stop it. I kneel down beside the stone and hug it like it's my last connection to this Earth, I hold it so tightly the my knuckles turn white. Tasha kneels down beside me and places a comforting hand on my shoulder. Leo just remains standing there, staring up at the sky like it's playing an interesting movie. Chase and Adam crouch on opposite sides of me, embracing me in an attempt to calm my quivering body. It feels good to have them, I probably wouldn't have lived through this alone. I know that even without him, we are still a family. He was the glue that held this family together, and, even in death, he will always be with us. Forever.

**Wow. I didn't even know I was capable of such feels, I'm usually a pretty stoic person. So, tell me what you thought. I hope I the story didn't seem like it went in circles, because that often happens when I run out of things to write, I unintentionally return to the same theme I was using three paragraphs ago. I hope you enjoyed!**


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